CAN OUR GOOD DEEDS SAVE US?
Why does God save us? Because we have been good, or because we have trusted in His mercy?
The late Catholic Priest, Henry Nouwen, believed, as many do, that we are saved because we have been good. In 1992, when writing to a friend on how to prepare AIDS victims for death, he writes:
∑ I am deeply convinced that Jesus is completely unique in the world as the full revelation of God’s life, but I also believe that many people can come to Christ even when they have never formally known Christ or had the opportunity to accept him. The final judgment, as Jesus says, is not based on whether or not they have known Jesus but whether or not the people have cared for those who are hungry, naked, prisoners, all the people in need.
Jesus did provide us with a portrait of those who are saved (Matthew 25:30-46). It was a portrait of those who had served Him with compassion. However, nowhere did He ever dismiss the idea that faith was at the core of this service, and that this service was merely the outgrowth of faith. Instead, Jesus had taught that salvation depended upon believing the truth:
∑ Truly, truly, I say to you, whoever hears my word and believes him who sent me has eternal life. He does not come into judgment, but has passed from death to life. (John 5:24)
To the religious leadership, He proclaimed:
∑ Then they said to him, “What must we do, to be doing the works of God?” Jesus answered them, “This is the work of God, that you believe in him whom he has sent.” (John 6:28-29)
∑ I told you that you would die in your sins, for unless you believe that I am he you will die in your sins.” (John 8:24)
If salvation is by faith, why then did Jesus also insist on the need to perform good deeds? Well, if we truly trust in Him, we will do what He tells us to do. In the same way, if I trust in my doctor, I will do what he tells me to do. If I do not trust in him at all, I will not follow his instructions. Consequently, our good deeds are the fruit of salvation and not its cause. Therefore, Jesus also taught:
∑ Jesus answered him, “If anyone loves me, he will keep my word, and my Father will love him, and we will come to him and make our home with him. Whoever does not love me does not keep my words. And the word that you hear is not mine but the Father’s who sent me. (John 14:23-24)
The fruit of faith is therefore obedience. If we love Him, we will obey Him. Therefore, those who are obedient are those who trust Him and are saved. Consequently, many verses teach that those who are obedient to God’s Word are those who are saved. This is because some evidence of obedience is the necessary result or fruit of a transformed life.
This has been the message of the entire Bible. Faith in God had to be the foundation of a life in God. To not believe in God is to despise Him:
∑ And the LORD said to Moses, “How long will this people despise me? And how long will they not believe in me, in spite of all the signs that I have done among them? (Numbers 14:11)
This is because the evidence of His existence and goodness is so plain to us. Through the Prophet Jeremiah, God cries out to His people:
∑ Go, and proclaim these words toward the north, and say, “‘Return, faithless Israel, declares the LORD. I will not look on you in anger, for I am merciful, declares the LORD; I will not be angry forever. Only acknowledge your guilt, that you rebelled against the LORD your God and scattered your favors among foreigners under every green tree, and that you have not obeyed my voice, declares the LORD. (Jeremiah 3:12-13)
Restoration required confession of sins. If we have faith, we also confess our sins to God and find mercy and salvation (Luke 18:9-14).
Without faith, which includes the confession of sin and the renunciation of it (repentance), God will not be pleased with our good deeds:
∑ And without faith it is impossible to please him, for whoever would draw near to God must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who seek him. (Hebrews 11:6)
Why is it impossible to please God without faith? Without a changed disposition towards God, our good deeds are built on a foundation of self-righteousness and self-pride. Jesus taught that our lives had to be built upon a foundation of believing His teachings and then acting upon them:
∑ “Everyone then who hears these words of mine and does them will be like a wise man who built his house on the rock. And the rain fell, and the floods came, and the winds blew and beat on that house, but it did not fall, because it had been founded on the rock. And everyone who hears these words of mine and does not do them will be like a foolish man who built his house on the sand. And the rain fell, and the floods came, and the winds blew and beat against that house, and it fell, and great was the fall of it.” (Matthew 7:24-27)
A faithful disposition towards God has to be at the foundation of our lives. Without this, our deeds might look good, but they are not good. Just think of a friend who does many good things for you. However, the foundation of his house is corrupt. He is just setting you up to use you. Consequently, in view of his heart’s intentions, he “good” is actually evil. This is also true of those who make use of the blessings of God yet reject their benefactor. This is also true of those who try to live virtuously but deny the ontological existence of virtue. They intuitively know that objective laws or principles of virtue require a law-Giver, someone they refuse to tolerate.
If we are using the abilities that God has given us while rejecting the One who has given us everything that we have, we are evil and our motives are evil, however much we convince ourselves that we are worthy.
I know this, because this had been me. I did good to prove my goodness. Meanwhile, my foundation had been built on the sand of self-absorption and arrogance. Jesus gave us a portrait of such a person:
∑ He also told this parable to some who trusted in themselves that they were righteous, and treated others with contempt. (Luke 18:9)
Self-righteousness and contempt for others are inseparable. Where we find one, we find the other. Self-righteousness also represents a refusal to see ourselves as we really are.
By the mercy of God alone, He revealed to me what was really at the foundation of my life. Once He humbled me, He began to build me up and to release me from my self-imposed prison.
Without faith, our “good deeds” inevitably poison. This is why far more carnage has been caused by do-gooders – those convinced of the goodness of their cause – than by common criminals.
The idea that our good deeds can save us is antithetical to the nature of God and His righteousness. He cannot be in contact with sin without destroying its source, as He had explained to Moses:
∑ “Go up to a land flowing with milk and honey; but I will not go up among you, lest I consume you on the way, for you are a stiff-necked people.” (Exodus 33:3)
Instead, the Father had sent the Angel of His Presence (Exodus 33:14; Isaiah 63:9), presumably the Second Person of the Trinity, who had been with Israel. Consistent with this fact, God had warned Israel that the slightest infraction would place them under His curse (Deuteronomy 27:26). Consequently, any little sin could damn the sinner, as Jesus had taught:
∑ “But I say to you that everyone who is angry with his brother will be liable to judgment; whoever insults his brother will be liable to the council; and whoever says, ‘You fool!’ will be liable to the hell of fire.” (Matthew 5:22).
In light of this, the smallest sin could damn the sinner to hell.
∑ For whoever keeps the whole law but fails in one point has become accountable for all of it. (James 2:10)
Consequently, salvation had to be received as a pure gift of God’s mercy and not as a wage or an entitlement:
∑ For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord. (Romans 6:23)
In view of this, the idea that we can earn anything from God is entirely unbiblical. God is never indebted to anyone, even by virtue of their good deeds:
∑ “Or who has given a gift to him [God] that he might be repaid?” (Romans 11:35; Job 41:11)
Even if we give away everything we own and even our lives for a righteous cause, this will not indebt God to us (1 Corinthians 13:3). Even in the Hebrew Scriptures, the Israelite was unable to do good deeds to redeem himself from a single sin. It all had to be by the mercy of God. How was this mercy obtained? By providing an animal to die in their place!
Paul also explained the source of God’s mercy using Abraham and David as examples:
∑ For if Abraham was justified by works, he has something to boast about, but not before God. For what does the Scripture say? “Abraham believed God, and it was counted to him as righteousness.” [Genesis 15:6] Now to the one who works, his wages are not counted as a gift but as his due. And to the one who does not work but believes in him who justifies the ungodly, his faith is counted as righteousness, just as David also speaks of the blessing of the one to whom God counts righteousness apart from works: “Blessed are those whose lawless deeds are forgiven, and whose sins are covered; blessed is the man against whom the Lord will not count his sin.” (Romans 4:2-8 quoting Psalm 32)
All of this should put the kibosh on any notion that we are able to climb the ladder to God’s mercy through our good deeds. It should also silence the many voices that claim that there are many routes to God, including good deeds, a good mind (enlightenment), or a good and loving heart.
Instead, from God’s vantage point, all of these offerings are corrupt and without any saving merit. According to Jesus, our hearts and minds are imprisoned by our love of darkness:
∑ “And this is the judgment: the light has come into the world, and people loved the darkness rather than the light because their works were evil. For everyone who does wicked things hates the light and does not come to the light, lest his works should be exposed.” (John 3:19-20)
While many pursue virtue, they have darkened their minds to the fact that they don’t even believe that there is such a thing as virtue. Instead, they pursue what they call “virtue” for pragmatic, self-serving reasons so that they can feel good about themselves and prove their worthiness. Instead, when we come to the light of faith, we see how unworthy we are of any of God’s blessings. This is why Jesus taught us to regard ourselves as “unworthy servants” (Luke 17:10).
In contrast, the unbeliever is on an endless quest to prove his worthiness by suppressing the light, which testifies to his unworthiness. Instead of lifting ourselves up through our “virtuous” performance, we are to humble ourselves to acknowledge our need for God’s mercy and forgiveness. Therefore, Jesus had warned the highly regarded Pharisees:
∑ “Whoever exalts himself will be humbled, and whoever humbles himself will be exalted.” (Matthew 23:12; Luke 14:11; 18:24)
To believe that we can or have made ourselves acceptable before God through our “virtue” is self-exaltation self-delusion, and self-righteousness, an absolute stench before our Savior. He purposely chose the humble of this world so that no one would have the arrogance to boast of their merit and moral superiority (1 Corinthians 1:26-29).
Our human condition is far worse than we might suppose. Quoting from the OT, Paul presented God’s indictment upon humanity:
∑ as it is written: “None is righteous, no, not one; no one understands; no one seeks for God. All have turned aside; together they have become worthless; no one does good, not even one.” “Their throat is an open grave; they use their tongues to deceive.” “The venom of asps is under their lips.” “Their mouth is full of curses and bitterness.” (Romans 3:10-14)
To understand the Bible is to reject all notions that we can deserve or entitle ourselves to God’s mercy.
